Have you ever looked at the big concrete silos down in Ring Street and wondered when they were constructed how they worked?
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After many years of appeals by the Farmers and Settlers Association for bulk grain storage at Inverell, the silos were officially opened in 1934.
Using a plough and scoop the site was prepared with foundations 15 feet deep. Fourteen-hundred cubic yards of gravel was used in the foundations before 390 tons of concrete was poured and 94 tons of steel laid.
Standing 100 feet (30.5 metres) in height, the four original silos were powered by 20HP Kerosene engines. These silos were completed by Concrete Constructions Ltd under the supervision of Mr Weaver.
Despite being a conspicuous landmark at the railway the silos certainly weren’t architecturally attractive but were a triumph to human ingenuity.
Gone were the days of the wheat lumper, the work now was done by kerosene oil engines and gravity.
At the entrance to the silos the farmer drove his laden vehicle on to the weighbridge which was capable of weighing 24 tons of grain.
Tested by means of a chrondrometer, provided the grain was of fair quality, it was accepted into the silo.
The grain was then unloaded into the hopper, and on to the conveyor which fed it into the elevators. Valves regulated the grain flow from the hopper to the elevator.
The maximum capacity of the elevator was far beyond anything the farm lorry could bring in.
The silos had a capacity of 150,000 bushels (5357tons) of wheat and with the flick of a lever; the grain could be diverted to the appropriate silo as needed.
To load train trucks, the grain was released from the bottom of the silos and then conveyed by elevator and shuts, depositing loads very quickly.
It was a vast improvement in grain handling and storage.
Rudd Brothers at Cherry Tree Hill were the first to bring a truck load of wheat to the silos.
Over the years grain production increased creating the need for more storage and in 1968 four new much larger silos were constructed on this site.